REVOLUTION: A Rebel Among Monsters ✔

Seven••The Golden Envelope

Weeks passed, Melaynia dreading each day as she woke from restless sleep cycles with bags under her eyes.

She succeeded in all her school exams, and her geography expose was so well written, they published part of it in the Jorco newspaper. She swallowed her pride and smiled; but inside, it didn't matter.

I'm dying anyway.

She wrote letters to the Monsters, unsure they'd receive them—a plea to stay alive for her parent's sake, a threat to haunt them after her death, a request for a list of ways to not be eligible for the Sacrifice. And then she redacted another; an apology for her previous notes.

Stuck with her anxieties, lost in the unknown, waiting for the worst, she had no idea where to turn. And though her parents took her premonition seriously, neither did a thing to ease her suffering.

Except for one night, two weeks later, when they invited Quincy and his parents over for dinner. During drinks, they casually announced her vision, and though Quincy didn't get it, his mother and father... did.

"The premonition?" asked his mom, holding her beverage so tight it might have shattered in her hands.

Must be a generation thing...

The parents asked to speak alone after dinner; so Melaynia and Quincy sat outside staring at the clouds, basking in the sun.

"We need to get me out of this," she whispered, peering at a cloud in the shape of what she perceived as a dog.

Though his eyes, blue as the sky, twinkled, Quincy's brows slid up. "You're not even one hundred percent sure yet." He spun to her, fingertips hovering near her palm. "Don't start a war before knowing the enemy's position! And if it is true, you can't contest it!"

She hunched over and lowered her voice. "But... it's not fair. Besides, your mom and dad seem to think the whole vision thing isn't a myth, either."

He rolled his eyes, retracting his fingers to scratch the stubble on his chin instead. "Fine. If you get the envelope, maybe we'll discuss options, but I suspect there's no way around this."

His unwavering doubt hurt her, and after that night, she avoided him. She didn't want to spend her potential ultimate moments rattled and enraged at the boy she loved.

From then on, she prowled near the front door every evening, fingers crossed, waiting for her parents to come home with the daily mail.

Another two weeks passed after the supper with Quincy and his family. Valeyria and Tomus arrived one day, having left work earlier than usual. When they crossed the threshold—that Melaynia had been spying on—their expressions were grim, their eyes were slitted, their necks were tense.

Oh no...

She followed them into the dining room, where Tomus dropped the day's correspondence—including a shimmering, golden envelope. The envelope that contained her fate, so blinding it lit up the glossy wood surface beneath it.

Her legs gave out and she fell onto a chair; Valeyria and Tomus sat across from her.

"We... we knew it was coming," said Tomus, wincing. "I'm sorry, Mel. I..."

Eyes on the brink of bursting, Valeyria reached over the table and plucked Melaynia's hand. "Sweetheart, my darling daughter, I—" she dropped her chin and sniffled.

Tomus rubbed her spine as he grabbed the envelope, opened it, and held his breath as he read. Valeyria looked up, scanned the words, then lowered her face again, fighting her tears.